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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



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A MANUAL 



— FOR — 



Trustees and Teachers 



OF- 



ooiMiiMioisr schools. 

■ 








COPYRIGHT SECURED. 









Bound Copies, with Memorandum Pages attached, can be 
procured by addressing the Author, and enclosing~40 cts. The 
three Trustees and Teachers-4 copies-of any District, will be 
sent for 50 cts. post-paid. 



SINGLE COPIES BY MAIL, 



25 cts. 



V 



iW 



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DEDICATION. 



Qu'S 



my wife — who has never allowed 
the detraction of others to ruffle 
for a moment her supreme con- 
fidence in the Author,* land whose heroic 
devotion to him illustrates that calm cour- 
age and constancy for which true women 
are notable — as a tribute of abiding regard, 
this little book is dedicated. 




j 



PREFACE. 



H^HIS little book is the product of the Autho. s 
eight years experience, and will meet a need 
for a simple guide to the legal performance of 
the duties of District Officers. It details in simple 
untechnical language, the laws as interpreted by 
the Courts, the Attorney General and the State 
Board of Education. All that this Manual contains 
is based upon legal opinions, rendered by com- 
petent authority. To follow its prescriptions and 
advice, is to escape all trouble. I have put it 
forth from motives originating in a desire to give 
Kentucky the benefit of my experience, and if 
County Commissioners will put it in the hands of 
every District Board, they escape a deal of annoy- 
ance, and contribute toward the systematizing of 
our Schools. 



.a. 2s£ a. isr tt .a. m, 



TRUSTEES AND TEACHERS 



Qualifications of a Trustee. 

1. A Trustee must be a voter in the District, and must 
be a Justice of the Peace, or a teacher in the District of 
which he is a Trustee. He should be able to write, 
though it is not a legal necessity, but as in turn, he must 
become the Chairman, and must then post notices, make 
reports &c, the reason of the case implies sufficient knowl- 
edge to perform these duties without proxy- aids. ' 

2. He must be a man of good moral character. That 
the law contemplates this is evident, from the fact that it 
requires this condition as a qualification for the Commis- 
sioner and for the teacher, and that a Commissioner has 
power to remove a Trustee for immorality. 

3. He must be elected by the people at a legal election, 
or appointed, in case of a vacancy from any cause by the 
Commissioner, or hold over from the failure to elect a 
successor, or to qualify if elected. 

4. He must be sworn in by the Commissioner, or by a 
Justice of the Peace, or some other officer designated by 
law to administer oaths. When sworn in by another 
officer than the Commissioner, a written statement to 



that effect must be officially certified to the Commissioner. 

5. A Trustee in office holds over until his successor is 
duly elected or qualified, or the Commissioner appoints. 

6. A woman is not eligible to the office of Trustee. 

Term of Office. 

1. The first legal election under the new law (enacted 
in 1878), was held the 1st Saturday in June, 1879. The 
election held in June, 1878, was illegal, because the act 
was to take effect on the 1st day of June. The law re- 
quires ten days previous notice of an election, and 
of course, a legal notice, under this law could not have 
been given, as the act took effect on the same day the 
election was held — the 1st Saturday in June, 1878, having 
been the 1st day of June. The Trustees for the school 
year ending June 30th, 1879, held by the apfioint?ne?it of 
the Commissioner, their tenure of office being purely pro- 
visional, and their term expiring with the scholastic year. 
The three Trustees elected the 1st Saturday in June, 1879, 
constitute the first board under the new law, and they 
must cast lots to determine who shall serve one, two and 
three years. (Report for 1879, pages 129, 130, and 136)— 
each year hereafter but one Trustee will be elected, and 
he will serve three years — one going out each year. 
Where Districts failed to elect three Trustees, the Com- 
missioner must fill the vacancies, and the Board when 
full, will proceed to organize as if all had been elected. 

2. The term does not expire until June 30th, and the 
new Board can perform no official acts until the 1st day 
of July. Though sworn in before, it is contemplated that 
the oaths of office takes effect from the beginning of the 
school year. 



Oath of Office. 

* 

1. The following form for the oath of office is pre- 
scribed by the State Board of Education : 

" You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will 
support the Constitution of the United States and of 
the State of Kentucky, and that you will faithfully and 
impartially discharge the duties of Trustee of District 

No , in the County of , according to law, 

and the Rules and Regulations of the State Board of Edu- 
cation, and to the best of your ability." 

2. When the oath is taken before a magistrate, or other 
officer than the Commissioner, the following is the form 
of certifying the fact to the Commissioner : 

To the Common School Commissioner of County: 

I certify that I did on the day of...-. 1S79> 

administer the oath of office to A. B. a Trustee of Dis- 
trict No , of.... County, and State of Ken- 
tucky. 

Given under my hand and seal this day of. 

187 C D , 

Justice of the Peace. 
. An oral statement or letter to the Commissioner from 
the Trustee is not sufficient. 

3. The time appointed by the law for the Commissioner 
to adminster the oath of office is on the fourth Saturday 
in June. [Sec. 1, Chap. 193, Approved Feb. 20th, 1878.] 
It is desirable that every Trustee elect may present him- 
self at the appointed time and place to the Commissioner, 
as it will avoid trouble in ascertaining who will accept the 
office, and it enables the Commissioner to give such coun- 
sel or instructions as he may desire. Trustees sworn in 



8 

by another should see that the Commissioner is officially 
notified of the fact. Trustees elect, designing not to ac- 
cept the office, should notify the Commissioner, so that he 
may supply the vacancy by appointment. 

At least one of the Trustees should be present to re- 
ceive the blanks required for the use of the District, and 
carry them to the Chairman. By all being present at 
the time appointed, an organization can be at once 
effected, and the Commissioner notified as to who is the 
Chairman. 

4. No act of a Trustee is legal until he is sworn. And, 
though a Trustee be sworn before, he cannot act until the 
first day of July subsequent to his election. 

5. Trustees do not swear to reports. All is included 
under the original oath. 

6. A Trustee re-elected need not again take the oath. 

7. Any justice, notary public, or judge can admin- 
ister the oath of office, but the Commissioner is not bound 
to recognize a Trustee unless he is officially notified of 
his having been qualified. In a general way it is better 
for the Commissioner to administer the oath to the 
Trustees. 

8. Where there is a religious scruple against a judicial 
oath, the party will be allowed to affirm. 

How to Organize. 

1. Let the Trustees elect assemble at some place and 
time agreed upon, and decide by lot the length of the 
term of each. This may be done by the drawing of 
straws, the casting of dice, or by white cards, numbered 
from one to ten ; the person drawing the highest number 



holding the long term, three years, the person drawing 
the next highest to serve the intermediate term (two 
years), and the person drawing the lowest number, the 
short term, (one year.) 

2. The person having but one year to serve is Chair- 
man of the Board. 

3. When this matter is determined, the Chairman should 
call the Board to order, and proceed to business in 
systematic way, considering and concluding (if possible) 
one subject at a time. 

4. As soon as the organization is effected, the Commis- 
sioner should be apprised in writing of the name and 
Post Office address of the Chairman. 

5. Trustees, when they would transact business, must 
meet in regular session, and, as a Board, reach and record 
their conclusions. Of these meetings, all must have, due 
and timely notice. The majority rules. Should the 
Chairman decline to execute the will of the Board, he 
may be reported to the Commissioner for removal, or 
compelled to do his duty by a mandamus. 

The powers conferred by law upon the District Board 
must be exercised by the Board, meeting and deliberating 
at the same time and place, and not by one or two form- 
ing a determination and obtaining the assent of the absent. 
The decision of a majority at a meeting properly called 
is the decision of the Board, but the decision of a majority, 
or even of all three, under the other circumstances, is not 
the decision of the Board. It is merely the concurrent 
opinion of the members of the Board, and is no more the 
decisio7i of the Board than the concurrent opinion of the 
members of the Legislature, arrived at by taking their 



10 

separate votes at their respective homes, would be an act 
of the Legislature. The law supposes that a majority 
may be convinced by a minority and change its determin- 
ation, and therefore will not allow the majority to act 
without giving the minority due notice to participate. 
This principle applies to the action of the Board in hiring 
a teacher, as well as to other matters. 

It is held in 16 Maine R., 185, that the dismissal of a 
teacher by two, a majority of the Board, was illegal, be- 
cause the third was not notified, although he was out of 
town. The Court say, " that does not allow the majority 
to dispense with the rule requiring" notice. They are not 
in such cases constituted the judges whether the notice 
would be effectual to secure his attendance. Nor woidd 
it be entirely safe to intrust them with such a power, as it 
would afford an opportunity to select an occasion, when 
they might judge that a notice would be ineffectual, and 
thus, by neglecting to give it, free themselves from the 
presence of a dissenting minority. It may often hap- 
pen that those will be able to attend, who were be- 
lieved to be so situated that their attendance could not be 
expected. Nor is there any difficulty in giving the 
requisite notice in such cases, as one left at th^ usual 
place of residence would be sufficient." 

6. Board Record. — "The law does not prescribe, nor 
has the State Superintendent directed, that any particular 
kind of record or account books shall be purchased. The 
Board should obtain such as are suited to the wants and 
means of the district. The contingent fund can be used 
to buy one. Every meeting should be recorded by a Sec- 
retary, and signed by him and the President. 



11 

7. It is the duty of the Chairman to execute contracts 
on the basis approved in a meeting of the Board before 
making. After being executed, it should be ratified in 
Board meeting and recorded. 

8. The following are subjects of business : 

1. To select books from the list recommended by the 
State Board, where the County Board has made no 
selection. 

2. To select and contract with a teacher. 

3. To make rules that do not contravene or conflict with 
those of the State Board. 

4. To make a programme for the visitation of the 
school as required by law. 

5. To levy the capulation tax of fifty cents upon the 
patrons for contingent expenses. 

6. To provide fuel and necessary appendages for the 
School-house. 

7. To consider the suspension or expulsion of an un : 
ruly pupil. 

8. To decide upon the removal of the teacher in case 
of incompentency, and unacceptability, or immorality. 

9. To make preparations for the building or repairing 
of the School-house, the calling out of the hands, the 
submission of the question of tax for that purpose ad 
valorem and per capita* 

10. To determine the question of submitting a vote for 
an ad valorem tax for any legal purpose, and to make the 
preliminary arrangements, if it is decided to submit. 

11. To consider and make the legal reports required. 

12. To make collection of District tax when voted. 

* Ad valorem means a tax upon the valuation of property, and per 
capita upon the heads of voters. 



12 

13. To consider any miscellaneous question affecting 
the. interests of education in the District. 

All these matters should be considered in a parliamen- 
tary wav, the vote formally taken on every question, and 
every stage of the proceeding recorded and signed by the 
Chairman and Clerk, if there be one. 

Liabilities of Trustees. 

1. Trustees are liable, in their individual capacity, for 
the amount of money paid a Teacher who has no certifi- 
cate, and for any contract that includes the payment of 
more money than the fund apportioned by the State, or 
realized from a District tax levied for paying the teacher 
will yield. 

2. If Trustees contract with a Teacher for a less sum 
than that apportioned the District, and apply the remain- 
der to other purposes, they are liable to an indictment for 
misdemeanor and can be sued for the recovery of said 
money. Let Trustees clearly comprehend that not a cent 
of the State money can, under any pretense, be expended 
for any other purpose than the payment of the teacher. 
Any balance, after paying the teacher, must be returned 
to the State Treasury and placed to the credit of the 
county in its surplus fund. 

3. If Trustees dismiss a teacher for an illegal cause, 
they are liable to him under his contract. The dissatis- 
faction of patrons and pupils is no cause for the dismissal 
of a teacher. The school must be unsatisfactory. A 
teacher feeling aggrieved by the action of the Trustees in 
discharging him, may sue them for wages, or other dama- 
ges, and thus compel them to show cause for the dismissal, 



13 

and to support their allegations by competent proof. 
The possession of a certificate is prima facie evidence of 
the teacher's competency, and hence, when the Trustees 
discharge a teacher, they assume the burthen of proof 
as to the alleged grounds of his incompetency. The 
cause or causes assigned for dismissal in the written no- 
tices thereof is conclusive, and estops from showing any 
other or different causes. — [Paul vs. School District in 
Hartland, 23 Vt., 575,' and Neville vs. Directors of Dist- 
rict No. 1, 36 111., 31,] 

4. A failure or refusal of the Trustees to make the re- 
ports required of them, within the specified time, subjects 
them to a fine of not less than twenty dollars, and an ac- 
tion for damages by any person injured thereby — [Sec. 9, 
Art. II, Chap. 18, Gen. Stats.] 

5. The failure of a Trustee resigning, within ten days 
thereafter, to deliver to his successor, any money, prop- 
erty, books or papers in his custody as Trustee, subjects 
him to a fine of twenty dollars, and it is made the duty of 
the Commissioner to report any such delinquency to the 
Grand Jury. - [Sec. 18, Art. V, Chap xviii, Gen. Stats.] 

5. For any neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, in 
addition to the paying fine, he shall be removed from 
office by the Commissioner. — [Sec. 19, Art. VI, Chap, 
xviii, Gen. Stats.] 

6. A failure to enforce the rules and regulations of the 
State Board of Education, to monthly visit the school, to 
provide fuel, &c, for the school-house, are instances of 
neglecr of duty justifying removal. 

7. Employing a teacher without a certificate, allowing 
more than one text-book on the sa*ne subject to pupils of 



14 

the same grade to be taught, making a false census report, 
and appropriation of any portion of the public money to 
other uses than the payment of the teacher, are instances 
of misfeasance. 

8. A representation that a teacher having a certificate 
cannot be obtained to teach the school, with the view of 
obtaining a license for a favorite to teach, is an offense. 
A license is only to be granted as a last resort. It is not 
the privilege of the Trustees, but an expedient in an 
emergency, and must be so recognized by the Commis- 
sioner, and a license refused when a qualified teacher can 
be obtained. 

9. Should a teacher be removed by the Trustees, they 
are liable for his pay for the time he taught. The bal- 
ance due the District may be paid his successor. 

10. When a Commissioner has legally condemned a 
school-house, and notified the Trustees thereof, and they 
fail to take the necessary steps to repair or build, a writ 
of mandamus will lie to the Trustees, commanding and 
compelling them to discharge their duty, and any citizen 
interested may sue out said writ. — [Beverly vs. Sabin, 20 
111., and Cotton vs. Reed, Ibid, 607.] 

11. Should Trustees willfully make a false census list, 
besides being liable to an indictment for perjury, he is sub- 
ject to a fine of not less than twenty dollars. — [Sec. 14, 
Art. VII, Chap. 18, Gen. Stats.] 

12. Should Trustees contract with a teacher to pay him 
the sum apportioned the District, and afterwards consent 
under Sec. 5, Art. VI to the transfer of a pupil to an- 
other district, they make themselves responsible for the 
sum thus alienated from the teacher of their own District. 



15 

13. The Trustees are liable if they fail to make settle- 
ment with the Commissioner for the local tax money paid 
out upon their order, and should the Commissioner de- 
tect any fraud or misappropriation of funds, they can be 
proceeded againt by the Commissioner. — [Sec. 6, Art. II, 
Chap, xviii, Gen. Stats.] 

14. Should Trustees permit more than one book for 
pupils of the same grade to be used in the school, the 
fund apportioned the District may be withheld ; and if 
they require a teacher to violate this rule of the State 
Board of Education, they are liable for the amount to the 
teacher, if the Commissioner should withhold the School 
Fund. — [See Rules and Regulations of State Board, 
Sec. 19.] 

15. Any Trustee or Trustees who shall knowingly and 
willfully misreport, under oath, any fact or facts now or 
hereafter required of them to be reported, shall be deemed 
guilty of false swearing, and shall be punished by conjine- 
ment in the Penitentiary ?iot less than one, no7' more than 
five years. — [See Art. VIII, Chap xxvii, Gen. Stats.] 

This appalling statute should make Trustees scrupu- 
lously exact in making their reports, and not to employ a 
cent of the fund derived, from the State, for any other 
purpose than the payment of the teacher. 

16. Trustees who fail, after the school-house has been 
condemned by the Commissioner, to have a good and 
sufficient school-house in their District within six months 
thereafter, shall be liable to be indicted by a grand jury 
and fined, as overseers of the highway are fined, for fail- 
ing to keep their precinct road in good repair, unless the 
Commissioner gives farther time, which cannot be ex- 



16 

tended beyond six months. — [Sec. 8, Art. VII, Chap, 
xviii, Gen. Stats.] 

17. For a failure of a Chairman of a Board of Trustees 
to report a school for payment when half and when 
wholly taught out, and at the close ot the year to make his 
annual report, he is subject to a fine of not less than twenty 
dollars, and is liable to action for damages by any ag- 
grieved person. — [Sec. 16, Art. VII, Chap, xviii, Gen. 
Stats.] 

The Posting of Notices for the Election of 
Trustees. 

1. The Chairman of the Board in office must post no- 
tices at three or more prominent places in the District ten 
days* before the election, that an election for a Trustee 
will be held at such time and place. Printed notices are 
furnished each Chairman by the Commissioner. 

2. In reckoning the length of time required for posting 
this notice of an election,, e'ther the day on which the 
notice was posted, or the day on which the election is 
held will be counted. 

3. The Chairman is the sole judge of the three most 
prominent places. His object should be to give the 
widest possible notice to the voters of the District. 

The District Tax. 

1. In the submission of the question of tax, the Trus- 
tees of a Country District cannot submit more than 25 
cents on each $100 worth of property, but can any 
amount less. 

* Notices for the Tax must be posted fifteen days before an elec- 
tion. 



17 

2. A Town or City can, under the General Statutes, 
submit a maximum tax of 30 cents on the $100 worth of 
property. 

3. The Chairman of a Board of Trustees must post the 
notices at three or more prominent places in the District, 
and fifteen days in advance of the vote. The notices must 
clearly state the object or objects for which it is proposed 
to levy the tax. It is not sufficient to state the gross 
amount, without detailing the purposes to which it is pro- 
posed to apply it. The notices must be signed by the 
Commissioner and the Chairman of the Board of Trus- 
tees. Fifteen days' notice must include the day the 
notices are posted. If the day the vote is taken is 
counted, it would be the sixteenth day. 

4. The purposes for which a tax is submitted must be 
for: 

(1.) The purchase of the site or the building or repair- 
ing of a school-house. 

(2.) The better payment of the teacher, or for extend- 
ing the legal term beyond five or three months, as the 
number of pupil children may require. 

(3.; The furnishing of the house with desks, or seats 
or black-boards, maps, charts, etc. If more than one 
purpose is included in the notice, each design must be 
named ; for instance : Suppose the gross amount is 20 
cents, to be distributed between school objects, each must 
be named, as follows: (1.) Ten cents for purchasing a 
site and building a house ; (2.) Five cents for furnishing 
the house ; (3.) Five cents for the better payment of the 
teacher, or to secure his services for a longer time than 
the legal term. 



18 

5. The tax can be voted for from one to five years ; but 
the time must be stated. 

6. The question may be submitted as many times dur- 
ing the school year as that fifteen days' previous notice 
can be given. Trustees are, however, advised not to sub- 
mit it more than twice in one year. 

7. Trustees may anticipate the whole amount to be 
realized, and contract on that basis, and should be careful 
in making their estimates not to exceed the gross amount 
it will yield for the term for which it is voted, if they 
would not make themselves liable for a deficiency. 

8. The Officers should remember that the District can 
not be changed in any respect during the time for an ad- 
valor em tax, which is levied. 

9. " White qualified voter " is one who has resided in 
the State two years, and in the County one year, and in 
the Precinct in which the District is included, in whole or 
in part, sixty days, next preceding the election. 

See Gen'' I Stats.. Art. 2, Sec. 8, and Art. 3, Sees. 8 and 
9 of Chapter 33; and u Kentucky School -Lawyer " pages 
36-38. 

This general rule will apply to the case. An -thing that 
would permit a man to vote at any other election, will 
permit him to vote at a school election. 

The exceptions are : 

(1.) A widow having children between six and twenty 
years of age, may vote in person or by written proxy, 

(2.) A widow who is a tax payer. 

(3.) An alien or unnaturalized foreigner within the 
census of, or who is a tax payer, in the District. Non- 
residents, though tax-payers, can not vote. 

10. Trustees may choose to collect the tax of the owner 



19 

or of a tenant, if his contract with the proprietor is to 
pay the taxes, whichever they may deem most eligible. 
The property is bound for the taxes, and may be dis- 
trained by the Trustees, or the Collector commissioned, 
by them the same as a Sheriff can distrain for the collec- 
tion of State or County taxes. 

A vote of a District is binding on the tax payers, after 
the Trustees have made a contract based upon it. 

All moneys loaned out of the District, and bonds sub- 
ject to taxation for other purposes, are taxable in the 
District where the lender or owner resides. 

11. ' ; A fair and true record of the votes/' taken for or 
against the tax, must be returned by the Officers of the 
Election to the Commissioner, certified and sworn to by 
them. If the Commissioner has presided at the election, 
returns must be made to the County Judge. 

12. It is the duty of the Commissioner to furnish who- 
ever is appointed to collect the tax, with the boundary of 
the District, certified officially by him. Sec. 3, Art U, 
Gen' I Stats. 

13. When furnished by the Commissioner with the 
boundary, the Collector will ascertain from the Assessor's 
books what property is subject to taxation, and this must 
be his guide in making the levy for collection. 

14. "A fair and true record " is one kept in a poll-book 
and numbered (1, 2, 3, etc.), the votes summed up at the 
bottom of each page, certified over the signatures of the 
officers of the election, sworn to before a proper officer, 
with the names of the Judge and Clerk at the foot of each 
page, signed as filled, so that the same may be identified. 

15. Whoever is charged with the collection must collect 



20 

and pay over the tax within two months, to the Commis- 
sioner, unless otherwise directed by the Board of Trustees, 
and he and his sureties are liable to the Board, the same 
as a Sheriff is for State and County taxes. — Sec. 8, Art. 8, 
Chap. 92, General Statutes. 

16. The order of the Trustees for the payment of the 
money must be honored by the Commissioner, and this 
order, in writing, is his sufficient voucher. 

17. Should a Trustee use this money, or order it to be 
used, contrary to the purpose contemplated by the law, he 
is liable to an indictment for a misdemeanor. 

18. Trustees should apply money to the payment of a 
competent Teacher for the legal term, rather than to 
secure longer service by an indifferent instructor. The 
best economy is to have well done what is done. The 
quality rather than the quantity of instruction should be 
the standard of judgment, when devoting the proceeds 
of the local tax to the payment of a teacher. 

19. The Trustees are required to make settlement with 
the Commissioner, of all moneys derived from District 
taxation, disbursed upon their order, by exhibiting receipts 
from the parties to whom the money has been paid, and 
they are, for a failure to do so, liable to a fine of twenty 
dollars, and to an action for damages instituted by any 
person injured thereby. — Sees. 15 16, Art. 7. 

This settlement should be made with the Commissioner 
on or before the termination of each school year. 

20. The Trustees of any city or town, having a special 
charter authorizing a less tax than 30 cents in the $100 
of property, may, under Sec. 9, Art. 2 of Chap. 19, 
General Statutes, levy an amount not exceeding 30 cents. 



21 

21. Cities or towns may, under Sec. 9 of Art. 11, estab- 
lish a system of graded schools. The method of pro- 
cedure in such cases is prescribed in Sec. 5, Art. 6 of 
Chap. 18, General Statutes, which consult, with notes in 
; 'The School Lawyer,'' pages 131 and 132, and Superin- 
tendent's Annual Report for the year ending June 30th, 
1879, page 142. 

Cautions to Trustees About to Assess or Col- 
lect a Tax. 

1. Follow the prescription of the law to the letter. An 
irregularity which would not void an election for Trustees 
will defeat an election for the levy of a tax. . 

2. It is important that the notices of the election should 
be legally given, and the evidence of the notices should 
be preserved. 

3. Meet, as a Board, resolve to submit the question of 
tax on a definite dav ; determine for how many amounts 
on the $100 worth of property you will take the vote : 
divide into cents the amount to be raised, and so express 
it in the notices, that is, say how many cents to the $100 
you propose for each object for which you propose to raise 
the tax. 

4. Make your action a matter of record ; select the 
places where you will post the notices, and the Trustee 
who will do it, make them out at the time, and get the 
Commissioner's and Chairman's signatures, select the 
three most prominent places in the District, and let the 
object be to apprize every voter of the proposed election; 
put the notices up so that fi ftee?i days will transpire before 
the day of the election. 



22 

5. If there is any question about the boundaries of the 
District, have them accurately described, in writing, by the 
Commissioner before assessing the tax-payers. Have the 
officers you wish to hold the election engaged, and be at 
the place with you at the proper time prepared to organize 
for an election. 

6. As soon as the election is successful get the tax list 
from the assessor's books and make out a tax-bill for each 
tax-payer, in form as follows : 

Form of Tax Bill. 

Assessment of the Taxes upon the ratable estate of 

in District J\ T o of the 

County of State of Kentucky ', made by 

the Trustees thereof ", according to law, this 

day of 18 .for the purpose of (here 

state the object), according to a vote of said District, 
held on day of 18 



jSTames. 



Real. Peisonal. Total. 



T;ix. 



The Chairman should sign the Tax Bill. This Bill is 
not necessary. A list given the Collector is sufficient to 
meet the law, but this plan will be best. 

7. The Trustees may collect themselves or appoint the 



23 

Collector. If the Board appoint they need not, but may 
require bond, and if they do they should fix the sum and 
approve the sureities. They should agree with the Col- 
lector for his fees, or he will be entitled to ten per cent. 

Collector's Bond. 

Know all men, that we, A B, of State of 

Kentucky, as principal, and C D, of as surety, 

are firmly held and bound unto Trustees of school 

district No. in the county of , and state 

aforesaid, in the full sum of [to be fixed by the District, 
not exceeding double the tax] to be paid to the said Trus- 
tees their successors in said office, or assigns, to which we 
jointly bind ourselves, our several and respective heirs, 
executors and administrators. 

Sealed and dated this day of A.D. 18 

The condition of this obligation is, that whereas the 
said A B was, at a meeting of the Board and Trustees of 
school District No of the connty of ap- 
pointed a collector of the rates and taxes assessed and to 
be assesssd in, by and upon said district, and the said A 
B has accepted said office ; and whereas said District on 

the day of a. d 18 voted that a tax 

has been legally assessed, and the Trustees of said District 
hath issued their warrant to said Collector, with said rate 
bill annexed, for the collection of said tax, the receipt of 
which said rate bill and warrant is hereby acknowledged, 
and by which said warrant, said tax is collected and paid 

over, on or before the day of a.d. 18 

Now if the said A B shall faithfully perform and dis- 
charge said office and trust, and with dilligence and 



24 
fidelity, levy and collect, as far as may be done, all the 
taxes that have been, or may be so committed to him for 
collection, during his continuance in office, and he, his 
heirs, executors or administrators shall, at all times on 
proper demand, render an account and pay over all the 
proceeds of such collections to the Commissioner of said 
County, or the successor in office, according to the direc- 
tions contained in the warrants for their collection, then 
this obligation is to be void, otherwise to remain in force. 
Executed in presence of r L s i 

[l. s.] 

Warrant to Collect a Tax. 

To A B, collector of taxes of School District No of the 

County of and State of Kentucky :— Greeting. 

You, having been appointed Collector of taxes for said 
District, are hereby, in the name of said State, authorized 
and required to proceed and collect the tax specified in 
the annexed rate bill, according to law, and to pay the 
same to the Commissioner of the Countv, or to his suc- 
cessor in office; and for so doing this shall be your 
sufficient warrant. 

Given under my hand and seal, at this day of 

•• a.d. 18 

C D. [L . s .j 

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of said School 
District. 

Construction as to Tax. 

1. Tf the homestead be in a District voting a tax, all 
the lands attached to it are subject to taxation in that 
District and no other. 



25 

2. The property of a manufacturing Company in a tax- 
voting District is subject to the levy. 

3. The property of non residents must be taxed. 

4. An omission, through error, to assess one does not 
invalidate the tax as against others. (21 Pick., 76 ; 6 
Mit., % 498.) 

5. The tax may be voted for five years, and the proceeds, 
in contracting, be anticipated by the Trustees. 

6. No change can be made in the boundary of any 
District while it is subject to a local levy, voted by the 
electors thereof. 

7. When parties plead they live out of the District, or 
have no pupil children, and, therefor, can not be benefitted 
by the tax. let the Trustees reply that the Common 
Schools are conducted for the good of the State, and not 
to confer a private benefit. Men have to work the roads 
who do not own a wheel or beast. All members of 
society are interested in good citizenship, and property- 
holders most of all. 

8. The Trustees must be careful to expend every cent 
in accordance with the notice, and all action directing ex- 
penditures shall be made in Board Meeting and recorded. 
If it be to build a School-house define and record the 
location, secure the deed before beginning work, and the 
plan of the building or its repairs. 

9. The Collector must pay over the District tax within 
two months unless otherwise directed by the Justices, or 
he will render his sureties liable, and the Trustees should 
take the precaution to so inform him. He has all the 
power of distraint the Sheriff has in collecting the State 
Taxes. 



26 

The Chairman should give all orders upon the amount 
for money in writing. 

Make settlement with the Commissioner at the close of 

each school year (30lh of June), and get a quietus, which 

file. 

NOTE— For anything farther as to what property is subject to 
taxation and exemption, see " School Lawyer " pp. 43, 48. 

How to Organize for and Conduct an 
Election. 

1. The Chairman should be at the voting place 
promptly at the hour, namely,* one o'clock, with the poll 
book furnished by the Commissioner, and call the electors 
present to order, saying : " Citizens, we have come 
together for the purpose of electing a Trustee of School 

District No , and of determining whether a tax 

of .cents on the hundred dollars shall be levied 

for common school purposes.'' State the purpose to 
which it is proposed to apply the tax. Ask, " Who will 
you have for Judge ?" When the nominations are con- 
cluded, take the vote in the order in which the candidates 
were named, by saying, " Those of you in favor of E. F. 
for Judge will hold up your right hands." Count them 
and proceed until it is known who the electors have 
chosen. In like manner proceed to elect a clerk. 

2. If there be no one present at the appointed time, the 
Chairman will wait until some one comes. As soon as 
one man comes, let the Chairman designate him as Judge, 
act as clerk himself, and let the election proceed. 

3. The law does not prescribe that the Judge and clerk 
shall take an oath. The law is satisfied when they prop- 

* If to vote a tax, the State Board has decided that the vote must 
be taken between 9 A. M. and 5 P. M. 



27 

erly certify to the Commissioner the returns and who is 
elected, and whether or not the tax was voted. 

4. As soon as the officers of the election are deter- 
mined, let the Chairman give to the clerk the poll-book, 
and let the voting begin. 

5. The judge of a district election must, within five days 
after an election, cause the poll-book of said election to 
be placed in the hands of the County Commissioner. It 
must be added up, and a certificate thereon must show 
that a certain person has been elected. This must be 
certified by the Judge and Clerk. The record of a case, 
from Marion county, showed that the report was not 
added up, and no one was certified by name as elected, 
and the poll-book was not certified. The Commissioner 
refused to receive it as official and appointed Trustees. 
It was decided that it was not the business of the Com- 
missioner to add up the poll and determine the result. 
That no one was certified as elected. That he had no 
official testimony that the poll was the poll of the dis- 
trict, as the voters were registered in pencil, and the figure 
1, 1, 1, &c, placed opposite each elector's name. The 
record should have been in ink, and the votes registered 
in cumulative figures— 1, 2, 3, &c— and should have con- 
tained a certificate showing who was elected, signed by 
the officers of the election. The Commissioner was sus- 
tained. 

It was decided obiter dicta that the Trustees qualified 
could only be removed by a writ quo warranto in a civil 
court, the State Board having no jurisdiction over writs. 
It was said that the parties could have (1) enjoined the 
Commissioner from qualifying the appointed Trustees 
until the matter of the appeal was decided by the Board ; 



28 

or (2), they could by a mandamus, if one could be ob- 
tained, try the question — the writ sued for, to direct the 
Commissioner to recognize the parties claiming to have 
been elected. That these steps not having been taken, 
the Trustees in office could only be removed by a 
quo warranto. When officers have been recognized and 
qualified by a Commissioner, the remedy for parties 
claiming an election is not before the State Board, but in 
a civil court, having the power to subpoena witnesses. 

For the benefit of Trustees not versed in the terms of 
the law, we define — 

(1.) An injunction is a judicial writ or process requir- 
ing a party to do or refrain from doing a particular tbing. 
If parties claiming to be elected Trustees have reason to 
believe that, pending an appeal, the Commissioner pro- 
poses to qualify other parties, the}' may enjoin him from 
so doing. But the Commissioner has the right, pending 
the appeal or contest, to recognize whomsoever he will 
until the appeal or contest has been determined. 

(2.) A mandamus is a writ issued from a court of com- 
petent jurisdiction, directing a person to do some speci- 
fied thing, as in the case of Trustees to require the Com- 
missioner to qualify certain persons claiming to have been 
elected Trustees. 

(4.) A quo -warranto is a writ against certain parties, 
requiring them to show by what authority they hold their 
claim; as in the case of Trustees qualified by a Commis- 
sioner to show by what authority they were introduced to 

office. 

(4.) A contest controverts the claims of other parties, 
and sets up what is supposed to be a superior claim. 

6. Votes cannot be recorded before or after the hour 



29 

appointed for an election ; but shonld the officers be tardy 
in opening the election, and voters should wait and vote, 
so that no one was deprived of his right to vote,* the elec- 
tion would not be invalidated. The Trustees should 
always be present at the appointed hour, and organize for 
the election, among themselves, if other patrons are not 
present. 

7. The certificate of the officers of a district election is 
the legal evidence of a Trustee's election ; and a Commis- 
sioner is justifiable in refusing to' recognize a person 
claiming the Trustee's office until he brings a certificate of 
election. 

8. Elections for tax may be held any time during the 
year, after fifteen days' notice has been given. 

9. A Judge of an election, if a voter of the District, 
has one vote as an elector, and another as. Judge in case 
of a tie. 

9. Statutory residence as a voter in a precinct, which 
includes a district or a part thereof, entitles a patron to 
vote in a school election when changed from one district 
to another in the same precinct, or a part thereof. 

10. Voters are required to possess the qualifications of 
electors at a general election, and no others. The excep- 
tions are in the cases of widows and aliens. 

Note. — For other information concerning who may vote, see 
"Kentucky School Lawyer," pages 36-38. Constitution, Sec. 8, 
Art. II. 

District Boundaries. 

1. Boundaries should always be recorded in the Com- 
missioner's book, described by geographical land -marks, 

'•'If it could be shown that by this delay voters were deprived of 
their votes, and that had these been taken, the result would have 
been changed, it would invalidate the election. 



30 

and not by the name of patrons. A copy should be fur- 
nished the Trustees of each district. 

2. Several cases came up in Bourbon involving changes 
of boundary. In one instance a new district had been 
made by taking territory from two others. It was 
alleged that the Commissioner had failed to give the writ- 
ten notice required by Section 1 of Article 6, Chapter 
18, General Statutes. He appeared and gave affidavit that 
he had given written notice. It was decided that, in this 
case, there could be discovered by the Board no improper 
motive in making the changes ; that the majority were 
adverse to his action, and included Justices of the Peace 
upon whose favor he relied for re-election, and that he 
was of unimpeachable character, and could not have for- 
gotten a matter of so much official importance ; and, as 
the appellants did not pretend to impeach his veracity, 
and these statements were a matter of memory, and the 
act of the Commissioner, presumptively, a matter of 
record, the Board sustained his action, believing it to 
have been prompted by a conviction that the creation of 
the new districts was for the good of the Common Schools 
in his county. 

3. A case was appealed on the ground that the Com- 
missioner had not given written notice. The record 
showed that all the parties interested in the change 
were present and entered their objections. It was 
decided that the voluntary appearance of the parties was 
a waiving of notice — the purpose of the law having been 
met by their voluntary presence. The Commissioner 
was, therefore, sustained. 

4. A boundary cannot be changed while a tax-levy, 
voted by the electors, remains in force. 

5. A change of boundary must be made before the 



31 

taking of the census, and a written notice given the 
Trustees of each distriet to be affected thereby of the 
time and place to hear objections. After hearing objec- 
tions, the Commissioner has the right to make the 
change, except as set forth in 4. 

6. The boundary of a fractional district cannot be 
changed except by the mutual consent of the Commis- 
sioners of^the two counties, or upon appeal to the State 
Board. The site of the school-house determines the 
question of county jurisdiction. In whatever county the 
house is situated, to that county the jurisdiction belongs. 

7. No Board of Trustees should fail to require of the 
Commissioner a written boundary description. 

Census. 

1. It is the duty of the Board of Trustees, during the 
month of April, to take the census. If they have it taken 
they must pay for it themselves. If not done by them by 
the 10th of May, the Commissioner can have it done and 
pay for it with money deducted from the apportionment 
by the State to the district. — Sec. 7, Art VII., Chap. 18. 
G. S. 

If done by neither, the Superintendent will take the 
census of the previous year as the basis of apportionment. 
—Sec. 7, Art. I., Ohap. 18, G. S. 

2. It is the duty of the Chairman to make his Census 
Report before the 10th of May. The Commissioner has 
to report to the Superintendent by the 1st of June. — Sec. 
7, Art. V., Chap. 18, G. S. 

3. The school age includes all children between six 
and twenty j'ears of age, even if married. 

4. Children of people moving into a district before the 



32 

census is taken, but not having acquired citizenship, can 
be embraced in the census. If they come from another 
state after the census is taken, and send pupils to school, 
the teacher has the right to charge them tuition. If they 
are citizens of Kentucky, they can send to the school, 
though enrolled elsewhere. 

5. Pupils omitted by the census -taker are not barred 
the school, though no money can be drawn for them. 
When the apportionment tables are once made up, the 
Superintendent has no fund left with which to pay for 
children left out by the officers. 

6. If the mistake is the Trustees', the Board is respon- 
sible ; if the Commissioner's, he is liable for the amount 
they would have drawn had they been reported at the 
proper time to the Superintendent. 

7. The Trustees should be put in possession, by the 
Commissioner, of the written boundary of the district, 
geographically described, and not by the names of heads 
of families. Trustees must be careful not to report 
children belonging to another district, as the law pre- 
scribes a heavy penalty. — Sec. 6, Art. VIII., Chap. 27, 
G. S. The Commissioner should compare the Census 
Reports and see that children are not reported more than 
once, and only where they belong. Done Avillfully, it is a 
penitentiary offence. 

8. The residence of a child is that of its parent, 
guardian, or master (if an apprentice). If a child were a 
citizen, and had the right to vote in the district, it would 
have the right to attend school. Children cannot be sent 
to relatives or friends with a view of being sent to the 
District School free of charge. A property-holder living 



33 

in another district cannot send his children (free) to a 
school in which he pays school-tax. 

9. A child must be six years old on or before the 1st 
day of July, and less than twenty by one day, at least, on 
the 1st day of July, to be reported in the census. Proper 
questions to ask : 

(1.) How many children have you, who will be six 
years old on tbe 1st day of July, and less than twenty 
years old on the 30th day of June ? 

(2.) What is your name (parent, guardian, or master) 
in full ? 

(3.? What are the Christian names of your girls ? 
Boys ? 

(4.) Have you given your children to a census-taker 
this year ? 

10. Cities, reporting directly to the Superintendent, 
may be required to send him the detailed report — the same 
as that the Trustees deliver to the Commissioner. It 
must contain the names of parents or guardians, the 
names of pupils, the street, number of residence, and age 
of each pupil. 

11. When cities do not report in time, it is in the power 
of the Superintendent to employ a person to take the 
census, and deduct the cost of the same from the fund 
apportioned the district. 

12. Children in any of the State Schools cannot be 
reported, as they are- already enjoying the benefits of 
education at public cost. These institutions are : 

(1.) The Agricultural and Mechanical College. 

(2.) The Institution for Deaf and Dumb. 

(3.) The Institution for the Blind. 

(4.) The Institution for Feeble-minded Children, 



34 

13. A child that will be six years of age on the 1st day 
of July cannot be reported. Persons who will be twenty on 
that day cannot be reported. The census taken in April 
is for the scholastic year beginning July 1st. 

14. Residence is not acquired by temporary removal to 
a district for the purpose of sending children to school. 

15. A Commissioner changed a boundary, and failed 
to make the change a matter of record. Afterward it 
was sought to invalidate an election by throwing out the 
votes of the electors living without the district as described 
by the record, but within as it was orally changed by the 
Commissioner. The census report had included the 
parties objected to, and it was proved that for several 
years they had exercised the rights and paid the costs of 
patrons. It was decided.* that the electors could not be 
made to suffer on account of the laches of the Commie, 
sioner. The census and poll-books for several years were 
introduced by the parties, and were received as testimony. 
The election was validated, and the Commissioner 
ordered to amend his official record. 

16. The consent of the Trustees of adjoining districts 
{Sec. 5, Art. VI., Chap. 18, G. S.) for a pupil to go to 
school out of the district, and to pay the teacher thereof, 
does not change the census relation of the pupil to the 
district giving consent. If a contract is made with a 
teacher for the public money apportioned the district, and 
the Trustees consent to the transfer of a pupil and its 
per capita, the teacher can claim of the Trustees. If 
done, he must assent to relinquish his claim. 

Certificates. 

1. Teachers must have a certificate or license to be 



35 

competent to contract for a school. He must have a cer- 
ificate or license to render valid every day of teac hing. 

2. A County certificate permits a teacher to teach in 
any District in his County. 

3. A State certificate enables him to teach in any 
District in the State. - 

4. A license is only good for a specified school and 
term. Trustees should never employ a teachef on a 
license, when one can be obtained possessing a certificate. 
Commissioners should never issue a license when a teacher 
with a certificate can be secured. Its a great mistake to 
suppose that anybody that can read is fit to teach little 
children. The best teachers ought to teach beginners. 

5. A Commissioner can, for legal reason, revoke a 
teacher's certificate. A revocation annuls the contract. 
In such a case the teacher must be paid for the time he 
taught 'with a certificate. If his certificate has been re- 
voked without legal causes, his redress is in the Com- 
missioner. 

6. If a Board of Trustees dismiss the teacher without 
legal reason, they are responsible, and the teacher may re- 
cover from them. 

7. Certificates are of the following classes and grades: 
(1.) A first grade 1st class certificate. 

(2.) A second grade, 1st class certificate. 

(3.) A second class certificate. There axe first and 
second grade. Second class certificates. 

(4.) A license. 

(5.) A State certificate good anywhere. 

(6.) Certificates issued by City Boards, and good only 
for the schools controled by them. 

8. Whoever contracts to teach a Common School must 



36 

have a certificate, and whoever does the actual teaching. 
A person without a certificate, though a master of arts, 
and a President of a University is not competent to con- 
tract without a certificate. By " qualified teacher " the 
law means one having a County, State, or City certificate, 
good only where issued. -License ought to mean nothing 
but lie-sense. Better no school than one taught by a sham 
and shift who cannot get the lowest grade certificate. 

9. A teacher failing to attend the Institute, unexcused 
by the Commissioner {or good reasons, forfeits his certifi- 
cate, and every day he teaches thereafter is illegal, and he 
is not entitled to pay. 

10. Should a teacher be degraded, and on appeal have 
his certificate restored, he can claim pay — for such loss, 
in such a case, is not his act, but that of the agents of the 
State. He has, also, the right of action against those 
parties to the transaction, for damages, if any have re- 
sulted. 

Who Employs the Teacher and Contracts 
With Him. 

1. The Board of Trustees, having supervision during 
the term the school is taught, is alone competent to em- 
ploy the teacher, and a majority of the Board must 
concur in his employment. An old Board cannot em- 
ploy a teacher, even though two holding over agree 
thereto. 'It must wait until the new member is qualified. 
The Board must act together in regular session in the 
transaction of all its business. . Each member must be 
notified by the Chairman of the time and place of meeting. 
A Chairman is not competent to contract without the 



87 

concurrence of one of the other members of the Board. 

2. When an Assistant Trustee is needed, the Trustees 
have the right to employ him, as he is responsible to the 
Boaid for his share of the conduct of the school. 

3. A contract made with a teacher before the Board is 
qualified and organized, and with a teacher who has no 
certificate at the time of contracting, is not a legal con- 
tract. 

4. The form of agreement with a teacher is printed in 
the Teachers' Register, furnished each District. Contracts 
should always be in writing, and signed by all the con- 
tracting parties. 

5. The contract should state who is to attend to the 
school-house, furnishing fuel, &c. 

6. A contract can not be enforced by law, which con- 
templates a longer term, for the fublic money than the 
legal term of three or five months. The amount appor- 
tioned the District is the salary the State pays its officer 
for a definite service as to quantity, quality and duration. 

7. No contract contemplating the use of a part of this 
salary for ulterior purposes can be enforced. 

8. Trustees should contract with the teacher for a de- 
finite amount. If they exceed the public money or the 
amount supplemented by the local tax, or a reliable sub- 
scription, Trustees render themselves liable for the de- 
ficiency. It is competent to contract for the apportionment 
without designating the amount. Whatever is hypothe- 
cated without conditions, the Board is obligated to pay, 
and should the anticipated revenues not be realized, they 
are responsible to the teacher in his individual capacity, 
unless otherwise expressly stipulated. 

9. No more service can be required of a teacher for the 



38 

public money apportioned the District than the law, and 
regulations governing Common Schools require. A failure 
of a teacher to comply with extra requirements, involving 
time, talent and labor, would not invalidate the contract, 
but he could claim the apportionment if he could show 
that he had done all the State required of him. Trustees 
are the agents and officers of the State to secure a specific 
and stated result, and they have no right to speculate upon 
the teacher's (also an officer of the State) necessities, to 
extort more from him than his employer — the State, re- 
quires of him. 

10. Trustees bind themselves, individually and collec- 
tively, when they promise more than the State agrees to 
pay. They should, hence, contract for the public fund 
without anticipating a definite amount. 

11. Trustees act for the District in contracting on the 
basis of the local tax, and this is a matter purely conven- 
tional, between them and the teacher. 

12. Contracts, to be legally binding, must be made by 
the Board in its corporate capacity. Though its members 
are qualified before, the Board can not organize for busi- 
ness until the 1st day of July. Though two members re- 
main they can not contract until the junior member is 
legally in office — the 1st day of July. Any contract made 
before is void ab initio (from the beginning.) 

13. The Trusteees have no right to grant holidays not 
granted by the State. 

14. If the teacher chooses to teach on holidays he can, 
and count the time. He may not teach Saturday, without 
special agreement. By mutual consent only can the 
school be adjourned for the statutory holidays occurring 
during the term. 



39 

15. The teacher does not lose time because of freshets, 
epidemics &c. He does when he himself is not at the 
school-house, no matter what the cause. Should he be 
locked out and go to the house he can count the time. 
He" can not force an entry as against the Trustees, but may 
count the time. 

16. Should the Trustees, when responsible under the 
contract, fail to furnish fuel in cold weather, and the 
pupils shonld leave in consequence thereof, the teacher 
may, also, do so, even though he send the children home. 
He must be able to prove, however, that it would have 
been cruel, and impaired health to have detained them. 
He can not make the pupils do menial service. It must 
be voluntary whenever rendered. If the teacher has 
made himself responsible by agreement, for the comfort 
of the pupils, and fails to provide the conditions thereto, 
he looses the time. 

17. Oral contracts must be clearly prove 1, or tbe pre- 
sumptions of the case will interpret, and locate respon- 
sibility. 

18. Should a house be destroyed by fire or flood, or 
tempest, or mob-violence, the teacher does not lose the 
time. 

School Term. 

1. A District containing forty pupils and more, must 
have a school of five months, or one hundred and ten 
days. 

1. A District containing thirty-nine pupils and less, 
must be taught three months, or sixty-six days. 

3. A District School in which there is an average 



40 

attendance of sixty or more pupils must have an assistant 
teacher, who must have a certificate. 

4. A schcol term must be included within the school 
year, and must be continuous. 

Holidays. 

1. The only legal Holidays are the twenty- second of 
February, the Fourth of July, Christmas day (not week), 
and days of Thanksgiving and Fast proclaimed by the 
Governor. If either of these days occur during the 
school term, the Trustee may count them, provided he 
agrees with the teacher to this effect, and not otherwise, 

2. The teacher is entitled to count the time he is in 
actual attendance upon the County Institute, provided, 
the Institute occurs during the school term, and not 
otherwise. The Trustee cannot subtract this time, as the 
teacher forfeits his certificate should he fail to attend. 

3. A school cannot be dismissed on account of an epi- 
demic, or cold weather, or a freshet, except by the mu- 
tual consent of the Trustees and teacher. If the teacher 
consents he loses the time. 

4. Should a storm or fire render the school-house un- 
tenantable, the Trustee must immediately procure another 
house. The teacher does not lose the time when suspen- 
sion ensues from the act of God. 

5. The school cannot be suspended for a meeting of 
any kind. 

6. By " school days " are meant all days, except Satur- 
day and Sunday, legal holidays, and while the teacher is 
in attendance upon the Institute. 



41 

Incompcitihle Offices. 

1. A Trustee cannot be a Justice of the Peace, or a 
Count}- Judge, or a Common School teacher. 

2. A teacher cannot be a Trustee, or an Overseer of 
the Road. 

3. A teacher may hold the office of Commissioner, but 
must arrange his school so that he can visit each district 
school. Should he fail to visit the school, he is not entitled 
to the three dollars pay, apportioned for this work. It is 
not sufficient that he visits the District. 

Exemptions. 

1. A Chairman of the Board of Trustees is exempt 
from all jury service, militia duty, and work upon the 
highway. Other Trustees are not exempt from these 
services. 

2. A teacher is not exempt from such services. When 
called upon to work the road he must serve, or pay the 
penalty. If he works, he loses the time. 

Contingent Fee. 

1. The Trustees have the right to exact fifty cents 
from each patron (a person actually sending children to 
school) to supply fuel, brooms, and to pay for taking care 
of the school-room. If the teacher does this, the money 
may be paid him, if so agreed. 

2. When this money is not required for the necessaries 
of the school-house (such as fuel, buckets, brooms, etc.), 
the poll-tax may be levied and collected, and the money 
applied -to furnishing the school-room, or purchasing a 
blackboard, maps, charts, globes, dictionary, record book, 
Guide to Trustees, etc. 



42 

3. The Trustees may warrant delinquent patrons, but 
cannot distrain. 

4. It is not a teacher's duty to make fires, provide fuel, 
sweep the floor, etc. The contract should never fail to 
clearly express by whom these things are to be provided, 
and who is to perform this service. If a teacher volun- 
tarily assumes this service, he may be held to his contract, 
and should he fail to perform his self-assumed duties it 
would be ground for annulling the contract. 

5. The Trustees may assess only so much as may be 
necessary to pay costs, and may accept its equivalent in 
wood, or needed articles, or necessary labor (such as 
cutting wood, digging a well, etc.) 

6. The tax may be levied to dig and w r all a well ; as 
inay, also, the ad valorem tax, when so voted, specifically. 
The " hands " may be called out to dig a well, build a 
fence, open or clear a road, etc. 

Relation of the Common School to Other 
Schools. 

1. A Common School is one kept by a teacher having 
a State or County certificate, or license, for five, or three 
months, as the law may require, and in which all the 
children, included in the census, have the privilege of. 
attending without charge — either direct or indirect. 

2. A rate or tuition bill cannot be exacted in a Com- 
mon School, nor is it lawful to fix any charges, or to pro 
rate the fund on a tuition bill, if thereby any pupil is ex- 
cluded, or made to pay any sum whatever by any arbi- 
trary, conventional arrangement with the teacher of any 
private, subscription, or incorporated school. All such 
arrangements must be voluntary, and embrace nothing 
coercive. 



43 

3. No Common School can be under the auspices of 
any religious denomination, nor can any religion be 
taught therein, or any sectarian or infidel tract be read. 
Under no circumstances can a Common School be 
attached to, or incorporated with any school belonging to 
any denomination, no matter how eligible its proposition 
to do so may seem. 

4. A Common School cannot be attached to any Uni- 
versity, College, Academy or High School, though under 
secular control, without the consent of the Commissioner, 
ratified by a vote of the electors of the District in which 
it. is located, and then only for a period of one year, un- 
less renewed by vote, at the tin^e designated for the elec- 
tion of Common School Trustees. In such cases the 
Directors, Curators, or other managers become Common 
School Trustees, charged Avith the observance of the 
Rules and Regulations governing Common Schools, and 
are subject to all the penalties prescribed for ordinary 
Trustees of Common Schools. No arrangement can be 
effected with such an Institution which does not accord 
and render free tuition for five months in each year to 
every common school pupil who pursues the studies pre- 
scribed by the Common School laws. If pupils pursue 
other and higher studies they may be charged for such 
instruction, and it is not obligatory to fro rate the school 
fund in part payment of such fees. In plain terms, in- 
struction in branches embraced in the Common School 
course must be taught absolutely free, to every legitimate 
pupil. 

5. Where it does not abridge the rights of pupils, pur- 
suing the elementary studies, prescribed in the Common 
School course, higher branches may be taught, with the 



44 

consent of the Trustees, and tuition fees charged for such 
instruction. The first duty of a Common School teacher 
is to the pupils pursuing the elementary studies prescribed 
for the Common Schools. 

5. Pay pupils from other districts may be received by 
the consent of the Trustees, but not in such numbers and 
studies as will interfere with the proper and thorough in- 
struction of the enrolled pupils of the District. 

6. Pupils paying tuition, for any reason, have no rights 
superior to those attending free. The supreme right to 
the teacher's best service belongs to the State pupils who 
attend free, and whose instruction is paid for with the 
school money apportioned the District. 

7. No individual pupil has a personal pro rata allotted 
to him. A given amount of money, upon a census basis, 
is allotted each district, but the gross amount is for the 
payment of the teacher, and if a pupil pursues higher or 
other studies than those pursued in the Common School, 
he cannot claim, as a right, the credit of a per caput upon 
his tuition. The State money is to pay for a school in 
which elementary English studies are taught. In Ken- 
tucky the State pays nothing for Higher Education. 
Whenever higher education is given at the public cost, 
the arrangement is municipal, and not State. High 
Schools, whereever founded, must be maintained at local 
expense. The District Tax, provided for in the General 
Statutes, cannot be applied to the support of High 
Schools. 

8. Whenever and by whatever arrangement of a local 
character the Common School is taught, the teacher 
must have a certificate, and the general regulations be ob^ 
served with regard to the Common School Department. 



9. It is the opinion of the Superintendent, that all 
special acts, giving Institutions the right to receive the 
Common School Fund, and to pro rate the per capita 
upon tuition bills are unconstitutional, and that this has 
been decided clearly by the Court of Appeals in the case 
of Halbert vs. Sparks, 9 Bush, 259, and of Henderson, 
Supt, &c. vs. R. H. Collins and W. L. Jett, &c, 11th 
Bush. 

School Houses. 

1. The Trustees are charged with furnishing a house in 
which to teach the school. They can not employ a cent 
oi the money apportioned by the State for that purpose. 

2. The law provides these ways : 

(1.) The voting of an ad valorem tax of 25 cents on 
the $100 (in the county), and 30 cents in the city, for from 
one to five years. 

(2.) The levy of a $2 capitation tax when a majority of 
the electors consent. 

(3.) The calling out of the hands to furnish labor, and 
implements (as in the case of overseers of roads) for two 
days in a week until completed. 

3. They have a right to secure a site by purchase or a 
writ of ad quad damnum, when the owner of a desired 
spot will not sell. See " Kentucky School Lawyer," 
pages 144, 157 of "The Manual of School Architecture," 
a work that will be furnished any Trustee upon applica- 
tion to the State Superintendent. It contains all that is 
necessary to know concerning the site, and how to obtain 
it, the building of the house, containing as it does eleva- 
tions, plans, and specification forms of contracting, and 
deeds to the site, the lighting, warming, ventilating and 



46 

seating thereof, &c. No house should be built without 
consulting this book, and a postal-card request to the 
Superintendent will put the Board in possession of it. 
We prepared it with great ease, and it contains an exhaus- 
tive treatment (illustrated) of the whole subject. 

4. The State Boar 1 has recently given the following 
important opinion, and we reproduce it as it was pub- 
lished in the original official circular : 

SETTLE (Patron) ) 

vs. > Franklin County. 

THOMAS B. FORD,C. S. C. ) 

Office Superintendent Public Institution, 
Frankfort, Ky., September 4th, 1879. 
To Commissioners of Common Schools ; 

1. At a judicial session of the State Board of Educa- 
tion, an appeal was considered from a patron of District 
No. 36, of Franklin County, from the Commissioner of 
Common Schools, involving the right of Trustees to levy 
the $2 capitation tax to complete a school-house, begun 
under a vote of the District to levy an ad valorem tax to 
build the same. The Commissioner had decided that the 
will of the majority had been once expressed to support 
the Trustees in their effort to supply the District with a 
good house, and that the levy of the capitation tax was 
legal, the proceeds of the tax on property having proven 
inadequate. The State Board sustained the Commissioner, 
or appeal, an abstract of the opinion delivered in behalf 
of the Board by President Henderson, being as follows, 
viz : The State contemplates a place in which to carry 
on the business of education, and requires the Trustees 
to furnish one. It is clearly implied that the means nec- 
essary are to be used when voluntary enterprise is insuffi- 



47 

cient to afford the house. The law provides three 
methods — 

1. An ad valorem tax, limited, in one year, to 35 cents 
on the hundred dollars' worth of property. 

2. The calling out of the road-hands to work on the 
house. 

3. The levy of a capitation tax. 

The only condition, with reference to the tax, is, that 
the will of the people is to be ascertained.. When the 
people voted an ad valorem tax, they said, in effect, we 
need and want the house. This necessity being apparent, 
the Trustees, chai-ged with the responsibility to build the 
house, have the right to exhaust all the means suggested 
by the law and the reason of the case. They may not 
levy the $2 poll-tax for the 3^ear in which the ad valorem 
tax was levied, because prohibited by a limiting clause in 
the law. Under the vote in District No. 30, the Trustees 
began the erection of the house. A decline of values, 
bankruptcy, etc., decreased the proceeds anticipated from 
the levy. An unfinished house, unfit for occupancy, was 
on their hands. They levied the $2 tax to prepare the 
house for occupancy. Certain parties appealed to the 
Commissioner ; he sustained the Trustees, aud now the 
case is before the Boai-d, on appeal, for an opinion. The 
Board, by a majority of its members, gives the following 
deliverance : 

1. When a vote has been taken declaring that amajority 
favor the erection of a new house, or the repair of an old 
one, the Trustee may exhaust all the provisions of the 
law, and, of course, levy the $2 capitation tax. To sup- 
pose otherwise, is to assume that the State requires of 



48 

them a duty without affording the means by which they 
may perform it. 

2. Where there is no house, and the patrons are so in- 
different to the education of their children as to be un- 
willing to vote a tax, or subscribe the money necessary to 
furnish one, the Trustees may levy the $2 tax, and call 
out the hands, as many years in succession as may be 
necessary, to provide a place in which to teach the Com- 
mon School. The object of the school is not to confer a 
private benefit, but it is to improve the State's citizenship. 
The local indifference, therefore, can not stand in the waj r 
of the accomplishment of the State'e supreme purpose in 
education. 

3. When a house is supposed to need repairs, it re- 
quires the favoring expression of the majority before the 
two-dollar tax can be levied — that is, the District patrons 
are permitted to express a controlling opinion as to 
whether the house needs repairs. 

Under this opinion, Commissioners, acting upon the 
petition of the Trustees, may order the levy of two dol- 
lars in any District in which there is no school-house. 
They may, after a vote has been taken expressing the 
necessity of a new house, exhaust all the provisions of the 
law, 

By order of the Board of Education. 

Howard Henderson, President. 

Webster's Dictionary. 

The State Board of Education has made Webster the 
standard for Kentucky ; and this action will establish it 
as the standard of appeal in colleges, academies, and 
private schools, and with the press, and in literary circles 
in this Commonwealth. The Board recommends that 
each school district furnish its school with a copy, 
regarding it as essential next to an indispensable black- 
board. Once purchased, one copy, well taken care of, 
will last a generation. The latest edition contains nearly 
2,000 pages, quarto size, 3,000 illustrations, handsomely 



49 

engraved, and illustrating, pictorially, every department 
of natural science, the mechanical arts, mythology, 
music and musical instruments, history, heraldry, national 
ensigns, manners, utensils, architecture, fine arts, and 
costumes of all ages and nations, and will contribute more 
to convey definite and accurate ideas to pupils' minds than 
all the printed and oral descriptions that can be given. 
It also coniains a biographical dictionary, giving the pro- 
nunciation of the proper names of nearly 10,000 persons, 
and much information concerning them. In reading, 
these persons are being constantly mentioned, and no 
intelligent progress can be made without knowledge of 
the characters referred to in the exercise or composition. 
Who were they ? What were they ? When did they 
live? What did they do? are constantly recurring 
questions ; and with an Unabridged at his elbow, the 
conscientious teacher can always be prepared with an 
accurate answer. It also defines, spells and pronounces 
every word, gives its root, derivatives, and its use in polite 
literature, as sanctioned by the classic writers of the 
English language, and spoken in the most refined circles 
of society. 

In order to purchase it, the Trustees, after fifteen days' 
notice, can submit the question to the voters of the dis- 
trict whether they will submit to a levy of $10 (its price) 
to purchase it ; and that people must be singularly impe- 
cunious, or indifferent to the education of its children, 
when this small sum, to achieve and compass so valuable 
an end, would be refused. Ten dollars will buy it, and 
pay all the costs necessary to placing it on the Trustees' 
desk. When not necessary for contingent expenses, the 
capitation tax of fifty cents can be used for this purchase, 
if deemed preferable. Or, in a school of fifty pupils, 
twenty cents from each child would afford the necessary 
sum. Any little pleasing entertainment would supply 
the means of purchase. When purchased, it is the per- 
manent property of the district, and each teacher should 
be required to receipt for it, and turn it over, at the close 
of the term, to the Chairman of the Board, taking his 



50 

acknowledgment of delivery. So earnestly is the author 
of this Manual impressed with the importance of educa- 
tion in the use of our mother tongue — words being the 
signs of ideas, conversation being the joy of modern 
society, and the power to talk well being one of the 
greatest of all accomplishments, and a wide vocabulary 
the indispensable to all impressive and effective public 
soeakingand writing — that he urgently begs each District 
Board to give this matter early attention. The Un- 
abridged Dictionary is published by G. & C. Merriam, 
Springfield, Massachusetts. The Superintendent has 
obtained the special term of $9 a copy to scnools at the 
place of publication, and $10 a copy when delivered. 

Privileges of Teachers. 

1. To correct pupils by any method of discipline that 
is not cruel. If the rod is used they must not abrade the # 
skin, whip over the head or neck, or bare feet or legs 
If corporal punishment is inflicted in anger, and with 
undue severity, it will subject the teacher to a legal prose- 
cution. No unusual instrument must be used. If the 
ferule is employed, it must not be on the ears, or other 
parts where damage (bruises, bone injuries, etc.) might 
be done. Pinching, pulling the ears or hair, shutting up 
in dark closets, standing pupils upon one leg, suspending 
them by the arms, etc., must not be resorted to. Pupils 
may be denied recess, and kept in after hours. Extra 
tasks should not be imposed. 

2. A teacher can suspend a pupil for incorrigible con- 
duct, but should immediately report his action to the 
Trustees. Expulsion is the province of the District 
Board. 

3. Teachers have government over pupils on their way 
to and from school. 

4. Teachers may and should refuse to teach other books 
than those prescribed. They may, by the consent of the 
Trustees, teach higher branches and charge tuition, but 
such instruction must not abridge the rights of Common 



51 

School pupils. Teachers may refuse to teach pupils who 
pursue higher branches than those included in the Com- 
mon School course. 

5. Teachers may legally refuse to teach longer than 
five months in a term, or six hours a day, except where 
they have contracted otherwise. 

6. Teachers may refuse to adjourn for holidays, and 
may count the time, though the Trustees may have 
directed otherwise. 

7. Teachers are not required to furnish fuel or perform 
menial services unless they have so contracted. 

8. Teachers do not lose time in consequence of freshets, 
epidemics, fires and storms, or any other act of God. 

9. Teachers may draw 40 per cent of their claims when 
the school is taught half the time, and 60 per cent when it 
is completed. 

10. Teachers may dispose of their claims in this way 
only: Receipt to the Commissioner for the amount dis- 
posed of, and draw an order upon the Commissioner for 
it in favor of the purchaser. 

11. Teachers may require any reasonable and unde- 
grading service of their pupils. They may require 
cleanliness and neatness. 

12. Teachers may, if they choose, read the Bible 
without note or comment, and have prayers at the opening 
or closing, but cannot require their pupils, if they or their 
parents object, to read or join m the prayer. Religious 
exercises must be absolutely unsectariam 

13. Teachers' wages cannot be garnisheed for debt, 
but their tuition fee's can. They are public officers, and 
the fund apportioned the district is their salary. Their 
text-books are exempt from execution. 

14. Teachers may lawfully resist any order of the 
Trustees requiring them to adjourn, to surrender the use 
of the school-house to other purposes. 

15. Should Trustees agree that pupils enrolled in an 
adjacent district may attend the school in their own, the 
teacher may refuse to teach them, or he may consent to 
do so for or without pay. 



52 

16. Teachers may require written reasons for dismissal 
or forfeiture of certificates, and may appeal from the 
Trustees to the Commissioner, and from the Commis- 
sioner to the State Board of Education. 



Duties of Teachers. 






1. Must have certificates for every day they teach. 

2. Must obey strictly the rules and regulations of the 
State Board. 

3. Must teach but one book to a subject to pupils of 
the same grade. 

4. Must keep and return Teachers' Registers as the 
condition of receiving their last pay. 

5. Must attend Institutes on penalty of forfeiting cer- 
tificates for failure. Can count the time while in attend- 
ance, and going and coming. 

6. Should use books recommended by the State Board. 

7. Must observe the rules prescribed by the District 
Board, unless they conflict with those of the State Board. 

8. Must teach six hours a day, and five months of 22 
days each, excluding attendance on Institute and legal 
holidays. The Institute days and holidays, to be counted, 
must occur during the school term. 

9. Teachers must teach all the children of pupil age in 
the district, or coming to it by removal of residence, 
though not included in the census. 

10. If assistants are employed to teach in the Common 
School, they, too, must have certificates ; and if paid by 
tee Trustees, or with public funds, it is the right of the 
District Board to employ them. 

11. Teachers must contract with a District Board in 
regular session, and tne majority must concur in their 
employment. 

12. Teachers must have a programme and do every- 
thing at the time, and not allow one recitation to infringe 
upon the time allotted to another. 

13. Teachers are required to work the roads and per. 



53 

form militia service as other citizens, and while so 
engaged they lose the time. 

Cautious to Teachers. 

1. Teachers are advised always to have a written con- 
tract "with the Trustees, detailing the responsibilities of 
each, in all particulars not unmistakably defined in the 
law and rules. 

2. Teachers are advised not to sell their claims at a 
discount, as a promise of the State to pay is the most 
certain oi all pledges. There may be unavoidable delays, 
but never repudiation. 

3. Teacher- are advised to remember thai they are the 
commissioned agents of the State: and be careful to fol- 
low the prescriptions of the Statutes and the Rules, &c. 

4. Teachers are cautioned to avoid all profane and 
obscene language, to abstain from the use of intoxicating 
liquors and other vices, as these are legal grounds for re- 
moval and the forfeiture of certificates. They should ab- 
stain from all exasperating expressions and outbursts of 
passion in the audience and presence of their pupils. 

6. Teachers, while always decorous, should be free 
from all servility to illegal exactions and unreasoning 
prejudice and ignorance, and ever bear themselves with 
dignity and self-respect. 

7. Teachers should seek to secure the confidence of 
•patrons and pupils, and to visit them at their homes, as 

they may have leisure and opportunity. 

8. Teachers are cautioned to have a certificate in force 
at the time of contracting to teach, and for every day 
they teach. Also, to be present at the organization and 
during the entire session of the Institute. 

9. Teachers, when the Trustees or Commissioner visit 
the school, are cautioned against complaining in the 
presence of the pupils, and attempting any dress parade 
performances to beguile the officers. Regular exercises 
may be suspended to hear these officers, or to illustrate 



54 

particular methods, or the proficiency of pupils, but not 
for idle chit-chat. 

10. Teachers should never use tobacco while teaching, 
and should be careful of their attitudes, and scrupulously 
exact in their speech and manners. They instruct or de- 
base as much by example, as by teaching orally and pro- 
fessedly. 

11. Teachers are advised to insist upon the Trustees 
furnishing the school -room with necessary aids. Black- 
boards and a copv of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary 
are deemed essentials, and no school can be effectively 
taught without these valuable adjuncts. 

Teachers are recommended to provide themselves with 
such works as " Wilson & Calkins' Object Lessons," 
Harper Bros., New York; "Phelps' Hand Book," A. S. 
Barnes & Co., New York and Chicago ; " How . to 
Teach," Schermerhorn & Co. ;" " Page's Theory and 
Practice," A. S. Barnes & Co. ; " Webster's Academic 
Dictionary," Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., New Y ork, 
and to diligently study the Methods in the Superinten- 
dent's Report for 1879. 

Life Insurance. 

Among the subjects upon which teachers, in common 
with the educated men of the country, will be held to 
have some intelligent opinion, is Life Insurance. 

Dr. Seiveking commences the introduction to his work 
entitled "The Medical Advisor in Life Insurance," with 
the following pertinent remarks : 

" Among the features that may be regarded as charac- 
teristic of modern society, Life Insurance stands promi- 
nently forward as peculiarly unselfish. Its main objcet, 
provision for those whom death deprives of their bread- 
winner and protector, entails self-denial and forethought 
on the part of the individual who takes ovit a policy, and 
may thus become indirectly a boon to himself, by com- 
pelling thrift, and keeping alive the best feelings of our 
common humanity. The more the principles of Life In- 



55 

surance are understood, the more certain are they to be 
appreciated and acted upon ; and while they give to so- 
ciety a guarantee of the uprightness and honesty of the 
individual, he in return assists in rendering more firm 
and stable the very groundwork of the republic. The 
relative number of inhabitants of different localities who 
have taken out policies of life insurance may not inap- 
priatelv be regarded as an index of the prosperity of the 
communities they belong to, for they afford direct evi- 
dence of the existence of those qualities, thrift, fore- 
thought, and consideration for others, upon which our 
social comfort and happiness depend. Those qualities 
do not necessarily bear a direct ratio to the amount of 
rateable property possessed by those different communi- 
ties, but they form the practical basis of Christian 
society." 

The intelligent teacher, who should become a light and 
blessing in the community in which he labors, in explo- 
ring the varied sources of information with which mind 
should be stored, cannot safely omit a subject of so much 
importance and interest; and may, at least, so far push 
his researches as to enable him to discriminate between 
that which rests upon the stable foundations of true 
knowledge, from the merely specious and unsound 
schemes with which society will always be invaded. 

We feel assured that the officers of the Southern Mu- 
tual Life Insurance Company of Kentucky, whose ad- 
vertisement appears in these pages, will cheerfully direct 
the inquirer to the sources of this information. We 
commend this institution to the attention of teachers of 
Kentucky, as one belonging to the community with whose 
interests thev are so essentially identified — an institution 
of which the late Insurance Commissioner. Gen. Gusta- 
vus W. Smith, whose notes on Life Insurance have made 
him a leading authority on the subject, has said, " If the 
intelligent public men of the State will give a little atten- 
tion to the subject of Life Insurance, they will find in 
the Southern Mutual a home institution, well worthy of 
their patronage, and this will result no doubt in estab- 



56 

lishing Kentucky Life Insurance on a basis similar to the 
high financial credit of the State. 

Teachers are generally of that class whose remunera- 
tion does not enable them to provide otherwise for a de- 
pendent family when they may be taken away. 

Blank Forms and Instructions. 

No. 1. 

Certificate of election of Trustee of Public Schools. 

To , of , Greeting : 

This certifies that you, the said , were at an elec- 
tion held on the daj r of June, Anno Domini 188... 

chosen to the office of Trustee of Public Schools of 

District, County of State of Kentucky, and you 

are, by virtue of said election and qualification, fully 
authorized and empowered to discharge all the duties of 
said office, and to exercise all the powers thereto belong- 
ing according to law, for three years from and including 

the 1st Saturday in July, 188 

C. S. C. 

NOTE. — Forward this to Count}' Commissioner of Common 
Schools without dely. 

No. 2. 

Oath of Office. 

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the 
Constitution of the United States and the Constitution 
of the State of Kentucky, and that I will faithfully dis- 
charge the duties of Public School Trustee for the 

School District, in the County of and State of 

Kentucky, according to the best of my ability. So help 
me God. 



Sworn and subscribed to before me, a of the 

Note. — This oath ma}' be administered by any one authorized to 
administer oaths. Forward without delay to the County Commis- 
sioner of Common Schools. 



57 

County of and State of Kentucky, this day 

of , Anno Domini 188... 

No. 3. 

Appointment of Public School Trustees. 

In accordance with the power vested in m , I hereby 

appoint you , a Public School Trustee for the 

School District, in the County of , and State 

of Kentucky, for the -term of , to hold said office until 

the next annual election of School Trustees; and you are, 
by virtue of this appointment, fully authorized and em- 
powered to discharge all the duties of said office when 
you shall have taken the oath of office required by law. 

Note. — Return this appointment with the oath of office sworn and 
subscribed to on the back, to the office of the County Commissioner 
of Common Schools. 

No. 4. 

Agreement between Public School Trustees and a Pub- 
lic School Teacher. 

This agreement, made the day of , 188 

between , party of the first part, and the Board of 

Public School Trustees of School District, in the 

County of State of Kentucky, parties of the second 

part, witnesseth : That the said , who holds a legal 

certificate, in full force and effect, hereby agrees, for the 
consideration hereinafter stated, to teach the public school 

in said district for the term of , commencing on 

the day of 188....; and further agrees to 

enforce the rules and regulations adopted by the State 
Board of Education, to adopt the State series of text- 
books and the prescribed State course of study, and to 
keep the State School Register, as required by law. And 
the parties of the second part hereby agree to pay the 

said , for services duly rendered as teacher of said 

school, the sum of ...... dollars, for each and every month 

of twenty-two school days, in the manner following, to- 
wit : by certifying the school taught half or wholly out 
to the County Commissioner for public school money to 



58 

the credit of said district, or subscription, or local tax as 
the law prescribes. 

In witness whereof, the parties have hereunto set their 
hands and seals the day and year first above written. 
Witness : 

[seal.] , 

Teacher. 

[seal.] , 

[seal.] , 

[seal.] , 

Trustees of District. 

Note — It is sufficient that this contract be signed by the Chairman. 

No. 5. 
Instructions to School Census Taker. 

1. Obtain from the Trustees or County Com nissioner 
the exact boundaries of your district. 

2. The law requires you to visit each habitation, house, 
residence, domicile, or other place of abode in your dis- 
trict, and to enumerate the census children of the same by 
actual observation and interrogation. 

3. Report all the statistics to be asked for. Incomplete 
reports are not to be accepted by the County Commis- 
sioner. Do not fail to read the headings of the different 
columns to be filled in. 

4. Include in your report all children (whose parents 
or guardians are residents of the district) that are absent, 
attending institutions of learning. Do not include in 
your report children who are attending institutions of 
learning or such benevolent institutions as the Deaf and 
Dumb and Blind Asylums, and Institute for Feeble- 
minded Children, in your district, but whose parents or 
guardians do not reside therein. 

5. If your district lies partly in two adjoining counties, 
you must report to the Commissioner of the county in 
which the school -eouse is located. 



59 

6. Be particular that the children listed are properly 
distributed into columns as headed. 

7. Foot up each page. Check your additions. 

8. You must subscribe to the annexed oath, and 
deliver, on or before the 10th day of May, a copy of this 
report to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. 

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that the facts set forth 
in the within report are just and true, according to the 
best of my knowledge and belief, and were collected in 
strict accordance with law and the instructions given 
above. So help me God. 



Chairman of Board of Trustees. 

Form of Settlement with Trustees. 

A B Chairman of the Board of Trustees, for 

District No County of , has appeared before 

me and made satisfactory settlement for all sums ai-ising 
from local taxation, and this is his quietus, he acting for 
and in behalf of the Trustees. 

C. S. C. 

OTHER FORMS. 

1. Form for agreement of teachers and Trustees is 
printed on the cover of the Teachers' Register. 

2. Forms for contracting to build or repair a school- 
house can be found in " Kentucky Manual of School- 
house Architecture." which can be obtained upon appli- 
cation to the Commissioner or the State Superintendent. 

'3. For deeds, ad quod damnun &c — see forms in ''Man- 
ual of Architecture," and remarks in " Kentucky School 
Lawyer " under law. in Art. VII, Chap. 18, Gen'l Stats. 

4. The form of oath. 

The blanks for Trustee's and Teacher's reports can 
be found in Teacher's Register. 

5. Census blanks, and other papers, such as election 
notices, poll books, &c, are furnished annually by the 
Commissioner. 



Robinson's Shorter Course 



IN 



ARITHMETIC 



By D. W. FISH, M. A. 



THE SCIENCE OF ARITHMETIC, 

Oral (Mental) and Written, in all its various grades and 

applications, is here treated fully and practically, 

in two comprehensive and -well graded 

books — Both substantially bound 

either in cloth or boards. 

The First Book in Arithmetic. An easy and 
progressive work, in which oral and written exercises 
are thoroughly and practically united. Numerous 
illustrations. 168 pp. 

The Complete Arithmetic. A comprehensive 
Manual on the inductive method, embodying every 
form of illustration and exercise, both oral and writ- 
ten. With numerous appropriate designs, and 508 
pages. 

THE SAME, BOUND IN TWO PARTS.— Des- 
ignated as Parts I and II. 



ECONOMICAL ADVANTAGES. 






The ''FIRST BOOK," by its natural and systematic develop- 
ment and application of numbers, oral and written, is a. full equiv- 
alent of the Table-Book, the Primary, and also for a large part of 
the Mental and the Elementary Written Arithmetics of the ordin- 
ary series. 

The "COMPLETE ARITHMETIC" so thoroughly intro- 
duces mental arithmetic and the inductive method, and so fully 
treats all the higher topics of the subject, that the use oi an Intel- 
lectual and Higher Arithmetic would be superfluous ; thus a single 
volume is substituted tor an entire series. 

The mode of treatment adopted, not only logically trains the 
pupil's mind and cultivates his powers of calculation, but will en- 
anle both the teacher and the pupil to accomplish far greater 
results in much less time than by the old system. 

Hence, it is claimed that a more thorough system and practical 
knowledge of the science of arithmetic can be obtained from these 
two books, at less cost, and in much less time, than from the ordin- 
ary series of three, four or more books. 

A positive gain in money, — time ? --labor . and super- 
ior instruction. 

J8®"The Typography and Mechanical finish of all the books of 
the series cannot be surpassed. 

fc^KEYS to the above are published for the use of Teachers. 

%•/•• Sample pages and full descriptive circulars will be sent by 
mail on application. Liberal term will Remade for introduction 
and exchange. 

These books substitute Towne's Arithmetics in the list recom- 
mended by the State Board of Education. 

IVISON, BLAKEMAN, TAYLOR & CO,, 

Publishers, 
New York and Chicago. 



ST7v r I3ST'X02>T'S 

WORD-BOOK SERIES. 

IVISON, BLAKEIAN, TAYLOR & CO, 

New Yory. 

WORD-PRIMER, 

WORD-BOOK, 

WORD-ANALYSIS. 

When not otherwise obtainable, the Publishers will 
send the Word-Primer by mail on receipt of 17 cts.; 
the Word-Book, 22 cts., and the Word- Analysis, 

35 cts. 

*## w e shall be pleased to send a sample of the Word- 
Book Series, if desired for examination ivith a view to 
introduction, on receipt of SO cents. 

It^They are the only Perfectly Graded 
Series of Spellers ever made. 

E^~They are the Cheapest Series of Spel- 
lers in the market. 

The most pronounced educational success is Swin- 
ton's Word-Book Series. The series seems to have 
happily supplied a very general want ; wherevee it has 
been examined it has met with unqualified approbation, 
and has in a great many instances, been at once adopted 
for us. The plan of the series is so excellent, the arrang- 
ment so fresh and practical, and the adaptation to the 
present wants of our schools so perfect, that it fills at 
once the desideratum. 



i THE SPENCERIAN 

System of Penrpagsl^ip. 



THE COMMON SCHOOL SCEftlES. 'Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 4% 
and 5. This series has undergone a thorough revision in every 
particular. Recommended by the State Board of Education. 

INTERMEDIATE BOOK. This book contains all the small and 
capital letters, together with twelve short sentences. 

THEORY OF SPENCERIAN PENMANSHIP for 
schools and private learners. Developed by questions and 
answers, with practical illustrations. 

SPENCERIAN KEY. A standard Text-book on Penman- 
ship, for the use of teachers, pupils and professional penmen. 
Cloth, illustrated, 176 pages. 

SPENCERIAN CHARTS FOR WRITING. 47 Charts; 
sold separately or bound together. Size, 19 by 24 inches. Each 
Capital Letter appears by itself, with analysis and printed 
description. The letters are of very large size, the capitals and 
loop letters being a foot in hight, and the small letters in pro- 
portion, so that they may be distinctly seen across the largest 
school-reem. They are mounted upon rollers in such a manner 
that one page is exhibited at a time. They are so printed as to 
present the appearance of superior blackboard writing. 
*-./■'■ The Spencerian Copy Books can be had of all booksellers. 

The most liberal terms for introduction will be made. 

IVISON, BLAKEIAN, TAYLOR & CO, 

Publishers, 
New York and Chicago. 



NICOLAI MARESSHALL, 

PORTRAIT POINTER, 

Louisville, Kentucky, 

UP STAIRS, CORNER GREEN AND FOURTH. 

Has painted portraits of Dr. Henderson and his 
Wife and Daughter, and gave entire satisfaction. 

PORTRAITS PAINTED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS. 

OPIUM ANTIDOTE. 

15. HI. WOOLEY, Atlanta, Georgia. 

Has an OPIUM ANTIDOTE that cures this distressing 
habit, without pain, and by treatment of patients through 
the mails and the express at their homes. Dr. Henderson, 
the auther of this Manual, was, formerly his preacher in 
Alabama, and he refers all sufferers to him as to his reli- 
ability. It is no substitute for the debasing drug, but 
a permanent and certain cure for the morbid habit it pro- 
duces. Let those who are slaves to this tyrant apply to 
Mr. Wooley, and he will certainly break the despotic 
chains and set the captive free. 

Address him for circulars of information and advice. 



tti! ii iiitstt liiii- 



W. A. Hayward, 
MANUFACTURING JEWELER, 

No. 1 Barday Street, 

(P. 0. Box 4876,) 

IsTIEyV^ YORK CZ1?"Y\ 



SCHOOL MEDALS, Nickel, Silver and Gold finish, 
with the name, class and study engraved as desired. 



NAMES, ODD FELLOWS, KNIGHTS TEM- 
PLAR, KNIGHTS OF PTTHIAS, GOOD TEM- 
PLARS and other Society Badges furnished or made 
to order. 



g@*Catalogues and estimates of cost sent on application. 



thee st^zdnt:d_a.:r,:d i 

Made so for the Common Schools of Kentucky by 
the State Board of Education. 

W1B8T IR'S DICTIQIABI1S. 



- « » » 



ANEW EDITIOX OF THE UNABRIDGED HAS JUST 
APPEARED, IN IWHICH A GREAT NUMBER OF 
VALUABLE FRESH FEATURES ARE INCORPORATED. 
AMONG THESE MAY BE NAMED 



A Supplement of Over 4,000 New Words 
and Meanings. 

These include such as have came into use during the past fifteen 
years — many of which have never f onnd their place in any English 
Dictionary before, and 

A NEW BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY 

Of Over 9,700 Names 

Of noteworthy Persons, Ancient and Modern (including many 
now living), giving the Name, Pronunciation, Nation- 
ality, Profession and Date of each. 

*** Favorable terms will be made for the supplying of this great 
work to Schools or Educationists. A ddress the Publishers, 

G. & C. MERRIAM, Springfield, Mass. 



THE 




Recommended by the State Board of Education. 

THE ABRIDGMENTS have been compiled with 
unusual care, and comprise every requisite feature 
to make them, in all respects, the most valuable Text- 
Book of the kind to be had. They contain numerous 
valuable Tables, and are thoroughly complete in Etymol- 
ogies, Synonyms and Definitions. A cursory compari- 
son only need be had with similar books to show the 
incomparable superiority of Webster's Small Dictionaries 
over all others. Where it is not convenient to make the 
comparison we will, upon application, send sample pages, 
giving a fair illustration of the merits of Webster as 
against his competitors. 

Counting - House and Family Directory. — 

Crown 8vo., Illustrated. Sheep, 
Academic Directory. — 334 Illustrations. 
High School Directory.— 297 Illustrations. 
Common School Directory. — 274 Illustrations. 
Primary Dictionary.— 204 Illustrations. 
Pocket Dictionary. — Various binding. 
Army and Navy Dictionary. — Various bindings. 

$^ a Corresponde?ice relating to Webster's Dicti<naries icill re- 
ceive prompt attention. Favorable terms will be given on the 
Abridgments, token desired for introdubtwn into Schools. 

Address the Publishers., 

I7IS0N, BLAKEMAN, TAYLOR & CO, 

New York and Chicago. 



"THE FAMOUS TWO-BOOK SERIES" 

The Highest Award (Gold Medal) at the Paris Exposition. 

Swinton's Geographies, 



1-EI,EME>TAR¥ COURSE IN GEOGRAPHY: 

DESIGNED AS \ CLASS-BOOK FOR PRIMARY AND 
INTERMEDIATE GRADES, AND AS A COMPLETE 
SHORTER COSRSE. 138 pages 8 vo. 

2,-COMPLETE COURSE IN GEOGRAPHY: PHYS- 
ICAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND POLITICAL; WITH A 
SPECIAL GEOGRAPHY FOR EACH STATE IN THE 
UNION. Class-book for intermediate and Grammar Grades. 

***A copy of the '"ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY" will be 
mailed, postage paid, on receipt of FIFTY CENTS, and of the 
"COMPLETE GEOGRAPHY," on receipt of SEVENTY-FIVE 
CENTS, if desired for information with a mew to introduction. 

The most liberal terms will be made for introduction and 
exchange. 

Sample pages will be sent to teachers and educationists on 

application. 

IVISON, BLAKEMAN, TAYLOR & CO., 

Publishers, 
138 and 140 Grand Street, 

NEW ITOIRIC- 



/"XC 



A MANUAL 



— FOR — 



Trustees and Teachers 



•OF 



conynn^coisr schools. 




COPYRIGHT SECURED. 



Bound Copies, with Memorandum Pages attached, can be 
procured by addressing the Author, and enclosing 40 cts. The 
three Trustees and Teachers— 4 copies — of any District, will be 
sent for 50 els. post-paid. 



SINGLE COPIES BT MALL, 



25 cts. 



SURE CURE" FOR CATARRH. 



HOWARD HENDERSON, A. T. MITCHELL, 

i 

Ex. Sv.pt. Public Inst. Banker. 

We are introducing an infallible remedy for Catarrh, Neu- 
ralgic and Nervous Headaches, Colds, Deafness, Dimness of Sight, 

and all complaints and complications arising from Catarrh. 

It is used as a snuff and contains no hurtful or habit-fixing 
ingredients. 

Relief attends the first applications. It has never failed when 
taken as directed, and for the maladies it professes to cure. One 
box lasts a month, and is, in most cases, sufficient to affect recovery 
of health. So confident are the proprietors of its efficacy, that they 
will return the money when it fails to effect relief. 

•'Such men as Elder Ben. Franklin, ^deceased), THons. T. F.. 
Hill, Green R. Kellar and Jas. A. Dawson and Judge Hayes of the 
Court of Appeals, and Mr. Ed. C. Went, Clerk in the State Superin- 
tendents Office, and the Rev. Drs. Milburn, Deems and Miller, and 
Elders Jacob death, J. B. Mayfield, Robert Graham, (Pres't Bible 
College, Lexington,) and Cols. A. T. Wood, Bruce Champs, and 
Drs. Weaver, Beck, and thousand others relieved by its use, attest 
its merits." 

o TZEILIIVLS : o 

ONE BOX, ONE DOLLAR. THREE BOXES, TWO DOLLARS. 

Special Rates to Dealers. 

Address : 

HENDERSON & MITCHELL, 

FBANKFOE-T. IKTT. 



Catarrh Cure. 



From Dr. Henderson, State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, and Mr. A. T. Mitchell, Banker, of Bourbon County, 
Ky., are introducing a Catarrh Remedy, discovered by an afflicted 
friend. "Witnesses on the happy effects of their acquaintances, 
they conferred by chance, and agreed to make its merits known 
and supply it to sufferers proposing no more at the start, than as 
philanthrophy. The business grew and pressed them for an adequate 
supply. While these geutlemen pursue their respective callings 
as educator and banker, they have competent representatives en- 
gaged in the manufacture and sale. 

So certain has been the remedy in catarrh and its complications 
that they have given it " Sure Cuke " for a name. Nervous and 
Neuralgic Headaches, Deafness, Dimness and Dizziness are cured 
by its use. Many have been relieved of Hay Fever by iis use. 
While these gentlemen could print a hundred testimonials, they 
trust that their own names are a sufficient guarantee of its worth. 
Nothing short of a conviction that those who try it will bless their 
memory could impel them to lend their names to this " Cure." 

Circulars with testimonials sent upon application. 



One Box for $1.00 Three Boxes for $2.00 



A ddress, 

HENDERSON & MITCHELL, 

FRA1TKFORT. ICY. 



THE SOUTHERN 

Mutual Life Insurance Co.of Kentucky 



LOUISVILLE. 



OFFICERS: - 



J. B. TEMPA, President. L. T. THURSTON, Secretary. 

A. H. LINDENBERGER, JNO. B. SMITH, Treasurer 

e T W Ti fi nv Vice-President. D . MERRIWEATHER, JR., 

S. T. WILSON, General Agent. Actuary. 

The Insurance Business of the Company is under the 
direction of Officers versed in the principles of Life Insurance. It is 
one of the few Companies in which its mortality experience is com- 
puted in its own office every year, with every calculation required 
in its business. 

The Finances of the Company are under the control 
and supervision of a Board of Directors composed of bankers, mer- 
chants and lawyers, well known in the community for integrity 
and ability. 

The Plans of the Company are those which have been tested 
by experience and approved by science. All those which have any 
gambling feature, alluring to siich as have not considered, and 
damaging to the many for the fortunate few, are scrupulously 
avoided as delusive and improper. 

The Policy issued by the Company is a clear and plain con- 
tract, easily understood by men of ordinary intelligence, and has 
the following advantages, fully np to the advanced steps of other 
Companies : 

The rig-lil s and Obligations of both parties are clearly 
stated in the Policy itself. 

After three annual premiums have been paid, if frnm any 
cause further payment of premiums is discontinued, 
the insurance does not thereby cease or become void, but is con- 
tinued for a definite time, regulated by the number of premiums 
paid ; or in lieu of this, the policy-holder may elect to take a new 
paid-up Policy for a definite sum. 

Both the amount of paid-up Insurance and time of ex- 
tension are stated on each Policy, so that forfeiture for 
non-payment is prevented and misunderstanding avoided. The 
Policy "cannot be contested except for such gross frauds, of very 
rare occurrence, which with common regard to the rights of the 
bodv of the policy-holders, should prevent payment. 

Teachers in Kentucky who can be well recommended, may 
canvass for the Comp.my during vacation and when other oppor- 
tunities offer, and earn more than enough to pay lor a large policy 
on their own lives. No license is required, and the study and 
practice of the principles of Life Insurance will be an agreeable 
change from the routine of the school-room. For information 
apply to the Officers of the Company. 



I 



